Finally reassembled, is Merlot line ready to thrive for Bruins?

Saturday

May 10, 2014 at 1:36 AMMay 10, 2014 at 2:21 AM

The previous time Daniel Paille, Gregory Campbell and Thornton skated together was April 5.

By Dan CagenDaily News staff

BOSTON — Shawn Thornton was answering a question Friday afternoon about the play of his line in Game 4 against the Canadiens a night earlier, a game won by the Bruins 1-0 in overtime despite getting consistent play from just two lines.

“It was our first game for me, Piesy and Soup in … God, I can't even remember how long,” Thornton said. “You'd have to look back to the last time we played with each other.”

Upon further examination, the previous time Daniel Paille, Gregory Campbell and Thornton skated together was April 5, a 5-2 win over the Flyers. For the sake of all red wine, what is happening when the Merlot line spends over a month apart?

Various factors contributed to their lengthy stretch away from each other — sitting out various players down the stretch made for some mismatched lines (Torey Krug and Corey Potter switched off at forward in one game), then Paille hurt his head in the penultimate game of the regular season, and when Paille returned Chris Kelly's absence created a hole on the third line that he filled.

Finally, though, they were back together Thursday night. And it wasn't pretty. While all the Spoked-B attention was focused on the substandard performance of the first line, the Merlot line was worse. In a game in which the Bruins attempted 55.6 percent of the shots, Campbell, Paille and Thornton had the three worst Corsi-for percentages on the team, Campbell topping out at 36.4 percent (all stats via extraskater.com).

All three are veterans and have been linemates since 2010, but the fact is a month apart is still a month apart. When you're not the most talented players on the team — and the humble trio is quick to remind anyone asking that they're not — chemistry becomes that much more important.

Getting one game to acclimate back to one another is understandable, if frustrating given the importance and intensity of this series and each game. They know they need to be better in Saturday’s pivotal Game 5, with the second-round series deadlocked at two games apiece.

“The good news is we practiced today and hopefully tomorrow we get that feeling back to where we were a month ago, before Kells got hurt and Piesy got hurt,” Thornton said. “We've played together a long time, but we haven't played together in a while either. I thought we had a good second [period], but in the first, I felt we got on the ice, there was a whistle, got on the ice, there was a whistle [there were 10 icings in the first period, just five the rest of the game]. That wasn't great. Changes weren't great, so when we were out there we weren't out there together.

“Plan on being better tomorrow.”

Rightfully, most observers point to the success and failure of the first line as the key as this series now becomes a best-of-three. The slumping Jarome Iginla, David Krejci and Milan Lucic could end the Habs' upset bid rather quickly with consecutive backbreaking shifts.

But let's not forget how many important playoff moments the Merlot line has had. They were momentum swingers in Game 7 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final, turning aside a Canucks team that came out strong on home ice. They buried the Rangers in the second round last postseason, with Campbell notching three goals and one assist.

Coach Claude Julien knows how important getting all three together is to getting the most out of the line as a group. When Matt Fraser came up for Game 4, Julien could have kept Paille on the third line, where he hadn't been out of place next to Carl Soderberg and Loui Eriksson, and use Fraser on the fourth line. Instead he scratched Jordan Caron, put Paille back on the fourth line and had Fraser on the No. 3 unit.

This is no slight to Caron, but Paille brings so much more to the table with his speed and offensive instincts. (For Caron bashers, keep in mind that Paille was also a first-round pick who took years to become consistent and capable).

And, not to mention, four years worth of playing alongside Campbell and Thornton.

“It was nice to be put back together,” Campbell said. “Jordy was good with us, but Danny, Thorty and I have played a lot of games together. Hopefully we can contribute.”

So grab a glass of red line before Saturday’s game, Bruins fans. The Merlot line is back together, and looking to get back to its old ways.

Follow @DanCagen

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